Mario (PM)

Mario in Project M
Universe	Mario
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Mario (SSBM), Dr. Mario (SSBM)
Alternate costume	Dr. Mario

Mario is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He is designed to be a mix of the best attributes of both his Melee version and Dr. Mario.

Attributes

Mario is average in most respects and very well rounded. He has a straightforward combo game that can transition well from the ground to the air, many options out of his throws, reliable approach options, and a solid ranged games with his fireballs and cape. While Mario is not the master of any one field, he is capable in all of them. Other characters may outclass him in speed or power, but Mario's overall well rounded set of attributes grants him versatility and the ability to take on most opponents.

Mario is endowed with a practical set of aerial attacks. His neutral aerial and down aerial serve as approaching tools, up and back can combo or gimp respectively, and his forward aerial is a great finisher. He is also capable off stage. His cape, quick aerials, and surprisingly good recovery allow him to head off stage and finish off opponents attempting returns of their own. On stage, Mario can be as much of a threat. His grab allows for chain throws, can lead into his deadly aerial combos, or can put the opponent off stage to set up a gimp. He can zone or approach with his fireballs, and has great finishers in his forward and up smash.

Despite his strengths, Mario still must cope with his lack of range and limited recovery options.

Changes from Melee to PM

Mario's alternate costume.

Mario was overall buffed from Melee to Project M, while still possessing balanced stats and average power attacks. Mario himself is now a slight mix between him and Dr. Mario, with increased air speed, and moves like forward aerial and up smash acting like Dr. Mario's.

Attributes

• Greater air speed matching that of Dr. Mario, improving Mario's midair approach.

Aerial Attacks

• Beginning of forward aerial acts like Dr. Mario's, dealing higher damage with strong knockback and a standarized angle for KOs , while the late hit acts like the original meteor smash hitbox, greatly strengthening its use for approaching and making it more reliable as a forward air.
• Back aerial still possesses its former power, but it now has a semi-spike angle like Dr. Mario's, being more useful at gimping recoveries.
• Down aerial inflicts higher damage for more consistent use. Its landing hitbox has also been shrunk, making less likely for opponents to be launched away by the move out of the range of Mario's attacks, and the first hit has higher base knockback so that it will almost always cause tumbling if the rest of the move whiffs.

Throws

• Back throw retains its power from Dr. Mario's back throw.

Smash Attacks

• If up smash hits late (via in front of Mario as opposed to behind or above), it becomes more powerful and spikes grounded foes (also akin to Dr. Mario's), comboing better into aerial attacks.

Special Attacks

• Fireballs have less ending lag, so they can be acted out of sooner and are quicker for repeated use. They also act more like Megavitamins, being stronger and having a bouncier trajectory.
• Super Jump Punch can be cancelled by a wall jump during the first 6 frames it is touching the wall, instead of just the first frame. It also hits less times while still dealing the same damage, making it easier to rack up damage with the move.
• Mario Tornado creates more vertical distance, aiding Mario's recovery.
• Super Jump Punch has less base knockback on the last hit, and can only be canceled once in its wall jump technique, until landing or grabbing a ledge.
• Before 3.5, Mario Tornado had star graphics, in a reference to the Star Spin from Super Mario Galaxy.
• Mario uses SFX from Melee for his Fireballs and retained down aerial.

Taunts

• New down taunt acts like Dr. Mario's from Melee and also has a damaging hitbox that deals 3%.

Revisions

2.1

• Adjusted Mario's tornado mashing to gain more height.
• Replaced down taunt with that of Dr. Mario in Melee, except Mario uses a fireball instead of a pill (from 3.0 onward, he would use a pill for his Dr. Mario costumes as usual).

2.5b

• Mario's Super Jump Punch wall jump no longer has additional decay.
• Mario Tornado no longer causes Mario to plummet down when used directly after hitstun.
• Mario's Super Jump Punch can no longer be wall jumped out of infinitely when touching a wall at the apex of the move, leaving just the single use unconditional method of wall jumping out of it.
• Down throw was increased slightly in knockback growth.
• Mario's aerial vertical momentum with Cape was adjusted.
• Mario now has his "Hoo" voice clip (otherwise only used for teching) displayed for his grounded jump.

2.6b

• Down tilt can be interrupted sooner, and its lower leg portion was given short invincibility during the first attack frames.
• Fireballs no longer degrades in hitstun, size and knockback as they bounce; they now use consistent values of said characteristics for their entire duration. They can also be interrupted sooner.
• Cape doesn't reverse controls/momentum for as long.
• Standing grab's hitbox shifted outward slightly for more range.
• Up smash functions like Melee Mario's up smash at the beginning, but then changes back to Dr. Mario's as he brings his head down -- thus spiking grounded opponents hit by the latter portion of the move, leaving them open for aerial combos.
• Down tilt's base knockback was slightly increased, while its knockback growth was slightly decreased. The toe part of the leg sends at a straight upward angle, while other parts more inwards on the leg send at lower angles.
• Forward aerial has a tweaked flash graphical effect over the fist.
• Down aerial's lowest hitbox placement adjusted more towards the center.
• Fireballs were slightly increased in damage, though their knockback growth was decreased as well for compensation.

3.0

• Forward smash's hitlag modifier has been reduced slightly to be normalized.

3.5

• Wall jump window increased to 6 frames from 4.
• Cape damage increased (Deals 10% damage instead of 8%).
• Now checks on frame 1 for touching wall as required for Super Jump Punch wall jump. Touching wall was not required before.
• Down smash deals less damage (Does 16% front and 12% back).
• Down air's hitbox sizes decreased.
• Fireballs/Megavitamins now do 7% instead of 8%.
• Landing lag on Fireballs/Megavitamins increased.
• Fireballs have a small fiery burst, while Megavitamins have a small smoke puff.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.5.

	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		3%, 2% then 5% (10% total)	Punches twice and kicks with right foot. A quick three-hit attack that does little knockback.
Forward tilt		10% (high), 9% (mid), 8% (low)	Kicks straight forward in a back-turning roundhouse kick. Can be angled; deals more damage if angled upwards, and less if angled downwards.
Up tilt		8%	Punches straight upward in a spiraling stationary uppercut. Good juggle starter.
Down tilt		9% close, 8% far	Sweeps leg low to the ground. Often a good combo starter and spacing tool.
Dash attack		9% clean, 8% late	Slides low on the ground forward with left leg extended. Sends foes behind Mario if it connects at early frames.
Forward smash		19% (sweetspot), 14% (sourspot)	Rears back with hands cupped together and then extends palm forward with a blast of fire (electricity in Dr. Mario's case) coming from his left hand. Can be angled; becomes stronger if angled upwards. Mario's version has a bit more reach than Dr. Mario's, and for the former the sweetspot tends to be further away at the very fire blast, while the latter has it closer to the palm.
Up smash		15% (early), 16% (late)	Headbutts upward and forward in one huge step. Can hit behind Mario. Excellent finisher at around 110%.
Down smash		16% (front), 12% (back)	Breakdance kick that can hit on both sides. Decent knockback tool.
Neutral aerial		12% (clean) 9% (late)	Extends leg forward. A standard sex kick.
Forward aerial		17% (sweetspot) 16% (sourspot) 15% (late)	Punches in front of him in a tumbling-hooking-takedown. Is a hybrid of both Dr. Mario's, and Mario's respective forward aerials in Melee. Contacting the opponent with Mario's fist during the earlier frames will result in Dr. Mario's version, playing the role of a powerful vertical finisher. The latter works as Mario's forward aerial, a basic meteor smash, which can set up aerial follow ups if used on grounded opponents. A brutish, slow, but versatile tool.
Back aerial		11% (clean), 9% (late)	Kicks backwards with both feet with long range. One of Mario's main gimping and combo tools. Uses its Melee animation.
Up aerial		11% (early), 10% (late)	Kicks upwards in a back-somersault. A midair juggle combo tool.
Down aerial		17% if all hits connect	Spins around via a drill kick aimed downward, hitting the opponent multiple times.
Grab		—	Grabs the opponent.
Pummel		3%	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw		9%	Throws the opponent forward in a single turning fling.
Back throw		12%	Spins around three times and swings the opponent backwards in a giant swing throw. One of his more stronger throw attacks and can hit nearby opponents with the grabbed target.
Up throw		8%	Mario throws his opponent in the air with full force flinging both arms outward and upward, leading into possible combos.
Down throw		6%	Mario slams his foe downward via a takedown that causes him to somersault a bit into a small leap. Has a lot of hitstun which makes it easier to combo opponents out of this throw and follow up with a forward aerial at higher percentages.
Floor attack (front)		6%	Punches to both sides.
Floor attack (back)		6%	Kicks in a circle, then gets up.
Floor attack (trip)		5%	Kicks backward and forward.
Edge attack (fast)		8% (foot), 6% (body)	Does a somersault and kicks with both feet.
Edge attack (slow)		10%	Slowly gets up and kicks with one leg.
Neutral special	Fireball / Megavitamins	7%	Shoots a fireball (or a pill) from his hand as a projectile. Bounces after hitting a surface, with its speed and duration decreasing per bounce.
Side special	Cape / Super Sheet	10% (close) 9% (tip)	Flicks his cape forward. It reflects projectiles and turns opponents the other way, making it a useful edgeguarding technique, especially against linear recovery moves such as Fox Illusion.
Up special	Super Jump Punch	12% maximum	Jumps upward, fist extended, at a diagonal angle, spawning 2D coin sprites when hitting opponents. Can be slightly angled sideways.
Down special	Mario / Dr. Tornado	13% total	Spins around hitting the opponent multiple times. Mario can rise with the move by mashing the special button, though this can only be used once before reaching the ground.
Final Smash	Mario Finale	2% each hit	Mario fires two giant fireballs that intertwine with each other and engulf the stage, hitting consecutively. Oddly enough, this doesn't change when he's Dr. Mario.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  Boss
•  CruzyCakes
•  Gallo
•  Hungrybox
•  Mew2King
•  Seibrik
•  Zinoto

Alternate costumes

Dr. Mario appears as Mario's alternate costume. Players may switch between Mario and Dr. Mario costumes, similarly to Wario's alternate costume sets for his Wario Land and WarioWare appearances. When wearing a Dr. Mario costume, Mario's Fireballs and their related sound effects in his neutral special and down taunt change to Megavitamins, and his forward smash also comes to have a light effect, though there is no difference in regular gameplay other than these effects and aesthetics (the changed elements will still affect Boss characters, for example). Dr. Mario's cape color also fits to match his colors.

Mario's alternate costumes in PM

Trivia

• The "RSBE-01" written on the Megavitamins of the Dr. Mario render is a reference to Brawl's NTSC game identification code.
• Mario's Wario-coloured costume was removed because it is somewhat redundant (Unlike Smash 64 and Melee, Wario is a playable character and even has his classic overall outfit) and this also gave Doctor Mario room for his black color, making him one of only three characters from Brawl to lose a costume (the others being Marth's light blue costume and Ganondorf's brown costume).
  • Interestingly, it makes Mario and Doctor Mario have the exact same amount of colors (five for each, similar to their costumes from Melee).

External links

• Project M character page